H Street Bridge Partially Closed For Levee Repairs

Traffic on the H Street Bridge will be restricted to one lane at times during levee construction during January.

Al Gibes / Capital Public Radio

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' levee improvement work on the American River has reached the H Street Bridge at Sacramento State.

The Corps started a seepage cutoff wall project along the American River 15 years ago. As crews came to bridges or other obstacles, they left gaps and continued on.

Crews are now returning to those gaps, like the one on H Street, to connect the ends of the levee walls that have already been built.

Todd Plain with the Corps says workers often find large chunks of concrete near bridges that must be removed before the gaps can be filled.

"Start digging, who knows what you could find. So, we're doing the prepatory work starting at 8 o'clock. The drilling begins on Tuesday where the real work begins and we'll see what we have in there. On the other side of the bridge on the eastern end -we're actually going underneath the bridge connecting the levees on both sides, so there's less impact to traffic."

Traffic may be reduced to one lane. The Corps hopes to have the H Street gap filled by the end of the month and all of the gaps filled by the end of this year 2015.

Bob reports on all things northern California and Nevada. His coverage of police technology, local athletes, and the environment has won a regional Associated Press and several Edward R. Murrow awards. Read Full Bio